A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah. J. Maas has 768 pages and I read all of them in two days. Am I proud of myself? Yes. Did I neglect everything but my child to do this? Also yes. This book is the fourth in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I have reviewed them all, along with all of Maas’ other books, but be warned, most of those reviews are older and not great. I was tentatively excited for this release. I have a love/hate relationship with these books because I usually have fun reading them BUT they also have issues I can’t overlook. This one is no different and I’m honestly not sure how to even rate it. If Goodreads had half stars, it would be a 2.5 but since they don’t, I think I’ll be generous and round up. I have a lot to say about this book so settle in, my friends. There will be MAJOR SPOILERS.

🔥I will be rating the heat level in this book and in every book that has romance from now on. If you’re curious about my rating system, you can check it out here.

Synopsis:

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.

My Thoughts:

• Rating- ⭐⭐⭐
• Heat Level- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (This book could technically be a five flamer but since it’s not erotica and is technically fantasy, we’ll keep it at four.)

I honestly don’t know where to even start because this book is so massive and I have a lot to talk about. I think to keep this readable, I’ll break it down into what I loved and what I didn’t. Let’s start with the positives.

😍Loved:

• I had fun reading this book. I mean, I was able to fly through it in two days so it was obviously a page turner.
• I have never liked Nesta and still really don’t BUT I respect her character arc. I think that Maas did a fantastic job describing her depression and her journey out of it. There weren’t any overnight fixes and she wasn’t “cured” by falling in love.
• I adored the friendship between Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie. I think female friendship is often overlooked in books that are more romance heavy but their friendship is a key part of the story.
• I liked that the House was a sentient character. It added a whimsical and fun element.
• As someone that adores Cassian, I both liked and disliked the romance. It was really sweet but also annoying so let’s talk about that now…

😒Hated:

• I didn’t want Cassian to end up with Nesta. I still wish they weren’t together but they are and that’s that. However, what REALLY annoys me about this is the fact that they’re mates. Mates are supposed to be this rare thing but yet, somehow, everybody keeps finding theirs. They could have just been really in love without it being 🎆destiny🎆. I also don’t understand why the females never realize who their mate is until they’re told by the male that he is, in fact, their mate. It’s just so uncreative and annoying. I also loathe the word mate🤢
• Oh Feysand, how I hate thee. I’ve never been crazy about Feyre or Rhys but wow, does this book really ruin them. Maas gave Feyre all these powers just to make her useless, barefoot and pregnant. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody that Feyre gets pregnant in this book because Maas told us she would get pregnant and have a boy in previous books… even though it’s supposed to be SUPER hard for the fae to conceive. It would have been so much more impactful if we would have been totally surprised by Feyre’s pregnancy and how easy it was for her to get pregnant. Don’t get me wrong, I love babies and love when characters have babies but once she got pregnant, Feyre literally could do NOTHING because Rhys was so controlling… I mean “protective.” As for Rhys, he’s just the worst. He was awful to Nesta even when she didn’t deserve it. He also didn’t tell Feyre that their winged spawn would probably kill her during birth. I got really tired of the sexual innuendos between them, as well. Sure, the first few were funny but literally every time they showed up in this book, Rhys had to make some stupid sexual comment. We get it, ya’ll like to have sex. Honestly, though, Maas LOVES to beat anything to death so I would expect nothing less from her. I could rant all day about these two but to put it simply, I can’t stand them.
• What even is the magic system in this book? There are no rules, no limitations. This is probably an unpopular opinion but Maas would be better off writing fluffy romance than fantasy. She just isn’t great at setting up magic systems and fantasy worlds that make sense.
• Speaking of magic, Nesta stole a ton of it from the Cauldron when she was turned. I was really interested to see what her powers would be and as they developed throughout the story, they were really cool… that is, until she gave them up to save Feyre and Feyre’s baby. Oh but don’t worry, Nesta did save just enough magic to change the shape of her pelvis so she can safely have Cassian’s winged children in the future… I simply can not.
• There was a slight bit of tension when it was revealed that if Feyre died, Rhys would die too. They made a magical oath that if one of them dies, they both do. I knew, though, that Maas wouldn’t kill off even one of them and especially not both. There are never any high stakes in her books because you know the main characters will always be saved by magic or the power of LoVe🥴
• I desperately want Tamlin to get his redemption arc but for some reason, he’s still running around the Spring Court in his beast form. I’m sorry but I just don’t believe that he would still be that devastated over Feyre after all this time.
• Elain is still worthless.
• Amren is still annoying.
• I still don’t know enough about my sweet baby Azriel. I’m hoping that the next book is about him and that Maas doesn’t ruin him for me.
• This has nothing to do with the story itself but I hate the cover for this book. I have physical copies for the others but this one can stay on my e-reader😬

Final Thoughts:

I think that’s everything I wanted to touch on but I’m probably forgetting something. I know it sounds like I absolutely hated this book but I really didn’t. These books are kind of trash but they’re also fun; a guilty pleasure, if you will. If you’ve read this book, I’d love to know what you think! Thanks for reading and have a great day!